A Single Talon - Unrelenting in His Ignorance
by KabiViolet
Summary: It was heartbreaking. For everyone involved. It was all so painfully obvious to everyone except to the one person it should be. One-shot surrounding the origins of Shakarian from Liara's POV. Set post-ME1 and pre-ME2.


_**A/N:** A brief femshep/Garrus one-shot that I wrote for a friend. Thanks for reading!_

_**Disclaimer****: **All characters belong to BioWare. I receive no personal benefit from this story other than the enjoyment of storytelling._

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It was heartbreaking. For everyone involved.

Liara didn't miss a thing. She didn't miss the way the Commander looked at him. She didn't miss the way Shepard laughed when he made some smart comment about missing a shot or botching a charge. She didn't miss the way their leader always checked for him over her shoulder, making sure he was still safe and unharmed after a particularly tough fight.

It was all so painfully obvious to everyone except to the one person it should be.

She had played her own hand in trying to win the Commander's affections. Liara had to admit she was drawn to the human woman. Shepard was … an enigma. An unknown. And a beautiful one at that. Liara might be young and naïve according to asari standards, but she knew Commander Shepard was one of a kind. That was a fact no one would deny.

Color still shaded her cheeks when she recalled the awkwardness of the encounter. Shepard had let her down in the best way possible – complimenting her while simultaneously explaining she didn't feel the same way. Preserving friendship instead of creating a divide between them. It had hurt, but Liara would move on. After all, she had several centuries more to live. She would love again.

But Shepard … Shepard's love ran deep and Liara ached to help quell the hidden storm within her friend's solitary soul.

She thought at first that the human's heart might belong to Kaidan, but that idea had quickly been dispelled. The Commander was patient with her crew – more so than Liara would have expected from a woman who had accomplished so much already in such a short lifetime. Stories of Akuze still ran through the underground, but Commander Shepard was anything but the ruthless soldier Liara had expected to find in the legendary woman. While Kaidan's affections were more than just obvious and bordering on blatant, Shepard politely rebuffed him as well, saving her pained looks for another member of their crew.

One who barely seemed to notice her at all.

Well … that wasn't quite true. He noticed her during a fight, steadily keeping an eye on her six. He noticed her when she made her rounds, spending hours talking with her about his previous assignments as well as hers – trading war stories and laughing together as old friends would. He noticed her when she helped him with his own dilemmas, questioning her judgment at times, but always respectfully – submitting to whatever Shepard decided was best and thanking her later.

But it was clear that wasn't what Shepard wanted him to notice her for. She wanted more. And the one person she wanted it from was unrelenting in his ignorance.

He was pleasant enough. Polite enough. A model soldier and subordinate at all times … almost all the time. He voiced his opinions when he disagreed, but silenced his arguments when he knew a decision had been made.

The problem was that his superior officer loved him. She absolutely adored him.

But he was blind. He was absolutely blind.

She had made her mind up. Liara could not stand the sadness in her friend's countenance any longer. The fight was over. The battle won. Crewmembers and friends were going their separate ways, and the grieved look on Shepard's face when she found out the post-battle destination of her hidden love was something Liara couldn't bear.

No, she had to do something for her Commander. And now was the time.

She would tell him. He had to know. If he didn't care for her, then Liara would let it go. She would not interfere. But if he did and his austere exterior simply concealed it better than most, Liara would make sure he understood just what his standoff posture was doing to their beloved Commander.

The elevators on the Normandy were always slow. Liara found herself nervously tapping her foot on the hollow metal floor of the contraption, waiting for the door to hiss open before her. When it finally did, she took a deep breath and stepped determinedly into the empty space of the cargo hold. Scanning her surroundings, she found the person she was looking for.

There he was. Standing where he always did. Right next to the Mako.

But he wasn't alone.

Shepard was with him, her face tilted upward. From behind, Liara couldn't see the expression on the human woman's face, but she could tell that it was ever so slightly cocked to the side. She knew that gesture well – the gesture that told the speaker she was truly listening.

Suddenly conscious of her surroundings, Liara ducked closer to the elevator door, watching the scene before her unfold. They hadn't noticed her – the two figures near the Mako, intent on each other's faces. Nothing else seemed to be in their respective fields of view.

Their words were too soft to be heard from where Liara stood. She strained her hearing to no avail. Shepard's posture was relaxed, her arms uncrossed, head still tilted to the side. The person in front of her speaking softly in dual-tones. Speaking in a hushed voice that Liara had never heard from him before.

Her heart thudded heavily as she began to hope that what she thought was happening was fact and not fiction. That the object of Shepard's lonely affections was actually returned. That he would not leave their Commander's fondness unrequited.

And while it still plucked Liara's heart strings that the person Shepard loved was someone else, she knew that if she truly cared about the woman, she had to let the Commander go. Happiness for Liara would be found when Shepard could finally have what she wanted for herself.

She held her breath in the corner of the cargo hold, slowly slinking back into the elevator as quietly as possible.

And just before the elevator doors slid shut, Liara smiled as she watched a single talon rise, gently stroking the cheek of the woman he loved in return.


End file.
